State Highlights: Decades-Old Law Makes It Really Cheap To Go To Med School In Texas; Wis. Gubernatorial Candidates Embrace Medicare-For-All Type Plan

Stat:
Med School On The Cheap: Why Becoming A Doctor In Texas Is A Bargain
When Caitlin Comfort decided to go to medical school, the Yale grad had her heart set on staying on the East Coast. But her wallet had different ideas. Facing $90,000 per year price tags for tuition, she said no thanks, and started applying to schools back home in Texas. That’s exactly what state legislators and educators want. In Texas, a decades-old law caps tuition at public medical colleges in a bid to bridge a doctor shortage by a) getting students like Comfort to come back, or, b) getting students like her partner, Justin Cardenas, to stay in Texas to get their degree. Right now, tuition is about $6,550 per year for in-state students. (Satyanarayana, 10/30)

Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Death Toll From West Nile Virus Climbs To 17
Amid a heat wave that could make West Nile virus more likely to spread, the number of people infected with the disease in Los Angeles County continued to climb this week. At least 230 people in L.A. County have fallen sick with West Nile this year, and 17 of them have died, health officials said Friday. The number of people infected is already the third-highest ever in the county, according to health officials — and the season has yet to end. (Karlamangla, 10/27)

Dallas Morning News:
Last Of 7 Sentenced In Record $373 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme
A Dallas woman on Thursday was the last of seven people sentenced in a large-scale health care fraud scheme. Cynthia Stiger, 52, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $23.6 million in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid. Stiger was convicted in April 2016 of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. She was one of several people involved in the record $373 million home health care fraud scheme orchestrated by Dr. Jacques Roy, a former Rockwall physician. (Martin, 10/28)

Dallas Morning News:
Tenet Healthcare To Cut 1,300 Jobs, Predicts Big Third-Quarter Loss
Tenet Healthcare will cut about 1,300 jobs as part of an initiative to save $150 million on annual operating expenses. The Dallas-based hospital operator also expects to report a net loss from continuing operations of approximately $366 million in third quarter. Tenet announced its preliminary financial results for the three months ending Sept. 30 early Friday. The current executive chairman and CEO, Ronald Rittenmeyer, said the changes will help to “drive organic growth, expand margins, and better support our hospitals and other facilities in delivering higher levels of quality and patient satisfaction." (Rice, 10/28)

Houston Chronicle:
Breach Of Texas Children's Health Plan Patient Info Feared
More than 900 Texas Children's Health Plan members' personal and medical information may have been compromised in a security breach late last year. Affected members of the insurance plan, which consists of Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program patients, were notified by mail on Friday. Last month, a review of the insurance plan revealed that a former employee had emailed batches of member information from her office to a personal email account in November and December against company policy. (Deam, 10/27)

The Baltimore Sun:
More Maryland Children Than Ever Getting Tested For Lead Poisoning
The state is starting to see gains from the requirement beginning last year that all children be tested for lead poisoning at the ages of one and two. The Maryland Department of the Environment reported last week that the number of 1- and 2-year-olds tested for lead in 2016 was 12.2 percent higher than the average for the previous six years. The largest increases were in Howard, Frederick and Carroll counties, where testing rates increased by more than half. (McDaniels, 10/27)

Denver Post:
ACC Parker Expands Pre-Medical Classes For Rural Students In Douglas County
Pre-nursing students enrolled at Arapahoe Community College who live in rural towns like Elizabeth and Franktown no longer have to commute to Littleton to knock out their prerequisite science classes. The community college’s Parker campus at 15653 Brookstone Drive recently added two science laboratories for microbiology and physiology — two course areas required in a medical track progression. The additions were part of a more than $1 million renovation of the extension campus that wrapped up this year. (Mitchell, 10/27)

Chicago Tribune:
Chiropractor Found Guilty In $10 Million Insurance Scam
A Chicago-area chiropractor was found guilty on 18 counts of health care fraud in connection with about $10 million in false insurance claims made over nearly a decade, according to an indictment released by the FBI. Enrique “Henry” Posada, 55, owner of Associated Back Care and Rehabilitation at 4354 W. 63rd St. in West Lawn, and who was a licensed chiropractor from 1996 until July of this year, was found guilty at the conclusion of a jury trial Friday. The charges, initially announced in March by Joel R. Levin, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, were that Posada presented false inventories to insurance companies — including, but not limited to Medicare — for services that never were provided, the indictment states. (Rosenberg-Douglas, 10/28)

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